Herm Sprenger = Safety Stirrups?

[2LaZ2race]

I’ve been on the hunt for safety stirrups and I never realized that Herm Sprengers were advertised as safety stirrups.

Possibly, I just looked past them because of the price/hype, but they claim to release if your foot would get stuck:

System 4 Stirrup

Weird thing though… on other websites (other companies) they don’t include the safety aspect in the product description.

Has anyone seen these actually release? Are they truly safe?

[CrowneDragon]

I don’t understand the safety claim, either. To me, since there is rubber on the arms and footbed can tilt it seems that you are more likely to get stuck in this type of stirrup than a standard fillis. I think they are awesome for some people with ankle/knee/back issues, I just don’t get the safety part. They don’t open anywhere, I think they are just supposed to help get you free because they are flexible.

[2LaZ2race]

I wonder if that’s why other companies (Dover) don’t advertise them as “safety stirrups”

[walktrot]

They were named the safest stirrup by Horse Journal about 10 years ago. Back before I had a good seat on a spooky horse I went off more times that I can count. Never once had any issue with the stirrups. I bought them because I had problems with pain in my knees and hips, and they also helped that. I bought them before the Horse Journal article, but wouldn’t ride in anything else now. I was lucky to have bought them off eBay from Germany and saved a bunch of money.

[tangledweb]

It’s not something Smartpak made up. It’s from HS
http://pferdesport.sprenger.de/steigbuegel/gelenksteigbuegel/hs-system-4-stirrups.html

I don’t know that there is any standard testing for “safeness” of stirrups so there’s no good way to compare different brands.

[2LaZ2race]

[QUOTE=tangledweb;7926144]
It’s not something Smartpak made up. It’s from HS
http://pferdesport.sprenger.de/steigbuegel/gelenksteigbuegel/hs-system-4-stirrups.html

I don’t know that there is any standard testing for “safeness” of stirrups so there’s no good way to compare different brands.[/QUOTE]

I know SmartPak didn’t make it up (talk about lawsuit if they did!) but are they safe because “they keep your foot in the proper position” or are they safe because they will come apart if your foot gets stuck?

It’s great to think a stirrup will always keep our heels down so if we fall our foot won’t get stuck, but I don’t agree that a stirrup can do that. What does it actually do if a foot were to go through and become stuck?